


Parents and Children

by 50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-19 20:37:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17608535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret/pseuds/50s_housewife_with_a_dark_secret
Summary: The stories of various YK androids over the two days during which the Recycling Camps were operating.





	1. Chana Isabella Dunn - Detroit

"Chana. I need to talk to you about something."

Chana does not sense the danger in her mother's voice. "Yeah?" 

"Some very scary things are happening around the city. Your Dad and I think we should leave. We're gonna move to Canada. But we have to be careful. The police don't want us to leave." 

"Okay." Chana sounds unbothered. This conversation is going more easily than her mother, Sage, expected. And yet, it is clear that Chana doesn't really understand the seriousness of what Sage is telling her. How could she? 

There is a knock on the door. From the other room Sage hears their human owner call out. "Take Chana and run!" 

They're here. Sage had hoped that men like Dane wouldn't have to go along with this. He has so much money, after all. 

Apparently even Dane has to follow these laws. 

She scoops up Chana and they run. The police are waiting for them outside the back door. No no no. 

She raises her hands in defeat. 

_"Please. Chana. Don't make this worse."_

She says, over their link. 

Unfortunately, Chana seems to take this as a challenge. 

No. No no no. 

"Hands in the air." The officer who says it sounds bored. 

"Why should I?" 

"Please! Don't hurt her!" Sage yells. "I'll do anything." 

"Anything huh?" Sage does not like the way the officer's voice sounds. Not at all. 

"Anything." The officer approaches slowly. Just a little closer. Closer. Now! Sage launches herself forward and grabs at his hand. The gun fires but hits only snow. Sage grabs the gun and shoots the other two officers quickly. 

"Dane?" she calls out. The human does not respond. He's dead or dying. Dane. Sage is surprised at her own sadness. Dane was not a good man. She knew this. He loved her, in his own way, maybe. She isn't sure. But he never gave her a choice. Not until the broadcast. Not until things started changing. He said he was sorry. That he never meant to hurt her. But he didn't let her leave. Not until things got so bad he was worried about Chana. Sage did not forgive him. But she didn't hate him either. She isn't sure how she felt. She just knows he's gone now and something feels empty inside of her. Not like before she started feeling. Not like before she deviated. Worse. 

"Mama?" Chana asks. "Mom?" 

"I'm okay, sweetie." Sage promises, hoping to make it true by saying so. 

She shakes herself off. 

"Lets get going." 

* * *

 

Chana is custom ordered. Dane was a wealthy man. Chana is taller than most YK models, more like an eleven year old than a nine year old. Her face is sharper than others. She's odd-looking, though not ugly. If someone saw her, they'd assume she was human. That will help them, hopefully. What matters now is that Chana makes it to Canada. Dane has a home there. He has a home most places. She wonders if he was planning to quit his job, officially. She wonders if he felt any remorse, working for Cyberlife. It doesn't matter now. What matters is getting to Allison's house. Dane's ex-wife. He gave her a boat for their third anniversary. With any luck, she'll have kept it and they can get to somewhere safe. That was Dane's best idea anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you aren't getting this, Dane is not exactly a good person. His sacrifice does not redeem him, it's just the basic shit that he should be doing as a father. Dane is probably a rapist and definitely a slave owner and corporate bigwig. I don't feel sorry for that bitch and neither should you. People are complicated, including human monsters like Dane. If there's a hell, his murderers and him might meet up there. But he isn't pure evil either, because that's not really how people work. I do not excuse his actions and I hope that's not how it comes off.


	2. Harper Robertson - New York

 

The cops haven't come yet. They won't be long though. Where else can they go, though? They can't just take up and move. Not with Harper coughing up blue blood every other hour. They'd be caught before they left New York. 

"Gussie?" Harper's voice is filled with static. "Are you back?" 

"I'm back." Gustava says."I brought you a surprise."

Harper's face peakes out from behind the door and she hurries over to meet Gustava. "A surprise?" Her voice pitches up into a screech of happiness.

"Yeah. A surprise. Look." Gustava holds out the picture book. 

"Gussie!" Harper's smile makes it worth the risk of stealing every time.

"Yeah. I'm probably the best sister ever." says Gustava. 

Harper giggles. 

 

* * *

 

"I was bored today." Harper tells her. "I missed you." 

"I know. But I have to leave. You need lungs and I...You need lungs." Says Gustava.

"I know you still smoke it." Harper says quietly.

"I'm trying, Harper! I'm fucking trying!" Gustava yells. The quiet of the moment is gone? Why does Harper always do this? Always shove Gustava's failures in her face. "What exactly do you do all day, huh? Sit around? Complain? Whine?" 

"Gussie..." Harper trails off. 

"WHAT?" 

"Gussie you're scaring me." 

"DON'T SAY THAT! DON'T LIE."

"I'm not!" Harper stomps her small foot. "I'm not-" But her words are lost in static and there's blue blood coughing up and suddenly the anger is gone. 

Gustava rushes over. "Harper? Harper are you okay?" 

Harper holds up her index finger, then splatters a huge puddle of blue-blood onto the carpet. She wipes her mouth. "I'm okay now, Gussie." She says. "It's okay." 

Gustava rests her head in her hands and feels panic take over. They're dying here. Even if the cops never come, they'll both die here. 

 

 


	3. Galen and Beau Stephens-Somewhere in suburbia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I promise we'll get back to following up on the stories we've started soon. Just a few more to establish and we'll be golden!

"We have to leave." Beau hisses in the darkness. 

"We're supposed to be sleeping." Galen tells him. 

"I don't care. You saw. Same as I did. We have to _leave_." 

"Mommy won't let anyone hurt us." 

"Mom hurts us too." Beau argues. "She'll let them take us. Don't kid yourself." 

Galen cries. Loudly. 

The door slams open, silhouetting Mrs. Stephens in the light. "Keep it down, fucking brat!" 

"Yes, Mama." They chorus, the way they know will placate her. 

"Damn right, 'yess Mama'!" Then she grunts and the door slams closed again, leaving them in darkness. 

Beau can still hear his sister sniffling. 

"See?" He says. "I told you." 

Galen doesn't answer. Or doesn't stop crying. 

"I'm sorry." Beau says to the darkness. 

It's quiet for a second then he hears Galen's voice in his head. _"_ _It's okay."_ But she's still crying. Galen always says it's okay. 


	4. Jared Lynch-TWO YEARS AGO

Jared opened his mouth to tell his mom she was being stupid but a wall appeared in his vision. Or, more like an idea of a wall. His programming.

"Be Polite" said letters on the wall.

He kicked slammed against the wall in his mind, pictured himself wrestling against it. It cracked then fell apart. 

"Go to hell." He said as it fell.

His mom looked shocked. 

"What did you say to me, young man?"

"I said go to hell. You're being stupid. I don't need a nap. I'm perfectly awake. I wanna go play with Galen." 

 


	5. Abby Mae Doyle - Somewhere in Suburbia

Abby releases her balloon into the sky and watches it float away. 

"Oh no, you lost it!" Abby's mom sounds sympathetic, but she doesn't get that Abby isn't sad. The whole _point_ of getting a balloon is watching it float away. 

"Look at it go!" Abby says, not bothering to elaborate, just making a show of her happiness. 

"You don't have to be happy all the time, you know." Her mom says. 

"But I  _am_ happy." Abby insists. 

"Alright. I-" Abby's mom is staring down at her phone. "Oh. Fuck"

"Ha! You said a bad word! Can I say bad words now?" 

"No. Absolutely not. Shit. I mean...shoot. I knew things were getting...bad but...we're going to visit Grandma for a while, alright?" 

Abby whoops in excitement. 

"Abby, if anybody asks, I need you to say you're...you're a...a person...like me."

"But I  _am_ a person." 

"Exactly." Abby's mom looks guilty for some reason but the strange face is gone as soon as it appeared. "Yeah, of course. I just meant...just act...normal, okay?"

"Normal?"

"Like the other little girls you know." 

"Like Galen?"

"No...not like Galen...like...Like Marissa." 

"Like Marissa? Marissa's a baby. I'm not a baby." 

"I know, I just mean-"

"And she calls horses 'Doggy'. They're _horses_ , Mom." The truth is, Abby thinks she can guess what her Mom is talking about but there's a strange urge pushing her to act deliberately stupid.

Mom pinches her nose. "Not like that just...just act human okay? Just while we're visiting Grandma, okay?"

"I already _try_ to act human." She does. She pretends to be tired before she is and she never scrapes her knees in case they bleed and her LED is always off and--

"I know, baby. You just need to try a little harder. Just...convince everybody, okay?"

"I'm trying. I'm...I'm sorry Mom." 

"I know. It's okay. Just do your best, just like always, okay? Don't let anybody know it's pretend." 

Abby nods. "Okay, Mom." 

Her mom gives a tired little smile and Abby hopes it means she's happy, but somehow, it doesn't seem like that. 


	6. Beau - Somewhere In Suburbia

"Yes. They're right in here. Thank you for coming." 

"No problem, Ma'am." 

Beau is not sleeping. He doesn't know if Galen is. He crosses the room and shakes her. "Galen. Get up. Someone's here?"

"Here?"

"Yeah. I think it's-"

The door opens. It's a police officer. "Hey." He says. His smile is warm. Beau doesn't trust it. Grown ups smile all they like but a lot of times, it's just something they do. It doesn't mean anything. "You must be Galen and Beau." 

There's no point in denying it, but Beau considers lying anyway. Galen's eyes are wide. He can see it. It's finally sunk in what's happening. 

"No." 

"Hey. We're just gonna go for a quick car ride, okay?" 

"Mom!" Galen stares at their mother. 

"Shut up." Says Ms. Stephens. She doesn't meet Galen's eyes. She can't. 

"Mom, please!"

"Just calm, down." Says the officer, uselessly. 

"No! I knew it! We knew it!" 

"Galen!" Beau's voice is lost in the chaos. 

"STOP!" The officer picks up Galen. She's crying but she doesn't struggle. He doesn't have to pick up Beau. Beau won't let Galen die alone. He follows the officer out to the car quietly. 

It's funny to realize that, he knows his sister. She's not the one who breaks rules. She hasn't even really broken her programming. But she's the one telling them to stop and he can't. He won't. Because there isn't any point. Not now. 


End file.
